“Covid far worse for work than 2008 financial crash: UN.
“The United Nations said Monday that the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the world of work was four times worse than the 2008 economic crisis. The UN’s International Labour Organization said the pandemic had had a “devastating” and even “cataclysmic” effect, as it sought to tackle an uneven recovery from the coronavirus crisis.”
https://www.macaubusiness.com/covid-far-worse-for-work-than-2008-financial-crash-un/
“The Fed Is Risking a Full-Blown Recession [with its new monetary framework]… monetary policy will remain loose until overheating begins – and cooling things off will require the Fed to increase interest rates much faster and further than it would if it started raising rates sooner…
“The result will be more volatility in short-term rates, and a greater danger of an economic hard landing.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-06-07/the-fed-is-risking-a-full-blown-recession
“Deutsche Bank warns of global ‘time bomb’ coming due to rising inflation.
“Inflation may look like a problem that will go away, but is more likely to persist and lead to a crisis in the years ahead, according to a warning from Deutsche Bank economists.”
“The US Chamber of Commerce is warning of a crisis affecting businesses “across every industry, in every state”. Angst is spreading about a lack of workers in Germany’s hospitality sector, and there are comparable issues in other countries such as Norway, Australia and Singapore.
“Meanwhile, despite unemployment at 1.6 million, the UK is experiencing its own labour problems, partly caused by the fact that 1.3 million foreign nationals have left the country in the last year.”
“‘I can’t recruit chefs’: Brexit and Covid plunge hospitality into crisis.
“Sunny days should see the UK’s restaurants and pubs welcoming customers, but they face a staffing nightmare.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/05/brexit-and-covid-plunge-hospitality-into-crisis
“Wild Housing Market Made His Modest Home a Hot Property… Chuck Vukotich, owner of a home on a cul-de-sac in Penn Hills, Pa., says he regularly receives calls from property speculators…
“Fevered buying has stretched beyond the vacation homes and upscale suburbs that white-collar workers sought out during the pandemic year. Even small towns and distant suburbs where homes routinely sell for less than $100,000 are abuzz.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/wild-housing-market-made-his-modest-home-a-hot-property-11622885400
“Red Hot Housing Market Is Creating a Fresh Risk for U.K. Economy… The U.K. property market is heating up rapidly, and a mix of surging demand and double-digit price growth is causing concern that an unsustainable bubble is building…
“…with affordability stretched and lenders easing mortgage requirements, the signs are starting to worry some Bank of England policy makers.”
“At the end of last year, UK house prices were more than eight times average earnings. That is the highest it has been for 120 years… This house price boom is not simply a British phenomenon. It is a global one…
“According to Knight Frank, in the year to the end of March, [prices] were up 22.1 per cent in New Zealand, 16.6 per cent in Luxembourg, 13.2 per cent in the US, 13 per cent in Sweden, 10.8 per cent in Canada…”
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/comment/article-9655003/HAMISH-MCRAE-pay-house-price-boom.html
“UK Economy faces ‘long Covid’ if debts not tackled… Hospitality, retail and leisure firms are facing huge levels of debt as the economy reopens, industry bodies have told the government.
“Kate Nicholls, the boss of Hospitality UK, warned of “long Covid for the economy, if you’re not very careful”.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57390244
“The ECB Has Far Worse Troubles Than Inflation…
“The real reason that hawkish noises have subsided is the strength of the euro, which is close to its highest point against the dollar in three years. For an export-led economy this will act as a brake on activity and could threaten to derail any recovery.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-06-07/the-ecb-has-far-worse-troubles-than-inflation
“Hong Kong’s Poor Families Doubled Amid Pandemic, Protests.
“The number of low-income households in Hong Kong has almost doubled over the past two years, underscoring the damage wrought by a historic recession amid protests and the pandemic.”
“How second wave of COVID-19 has decimated India’s rural economy.
“The government has said that the economic impact from the second Covid-19 wave will be less than that of the first. But economists point to signs of a growing rural economic crisis, and call for urgent relief measures to ward off long-term damage.”
“Colombia Inflation Jumps Most Since 1998 as Unrest Hits Supplies.
“Colombian inflation jumped the most in more than two decades as civil unrest snarled supply chains already strained by coronavirus lockdown restrictions.”
“Nicaragua president Daniel Ortega orders detention of rivals ahead of November’s presidential elections…
“Police said they arrested Arturo Cruz Sequeira, a former ambassador to the United States, under a controversial ‘treason’ law passed in December.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-06/nicaragua-pre-election-unrest-rivals-arrest/100193758
“Peruvians face a polarising choice between right-wing populist Keiko Fujimori and radical leftist Pedro Castillo when they elect a new president in a country desperate for an end to years of political turbulence.
“The new leader will need to tackle a country in crisis, suffering from recession and with the worst coronavirus fatality rate in the world…”
“South Darfur: 36 killed, dozens wounded in tribal clashes… At least 36 people have been killed and dozens wounded after clashes between Arab and non-Arab tribes in South Darfur over the weekend.
“The fighting broke out on Saturday between the Arab Taisha and ethnic African Fallata tribes…”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/7/tribal-fighting-in-south-darfur-kills-36-says-state-media
“Millions On the Brink in Ethiopia’s War-Torn Tigray, U.K. Document Says.
“Almost all civilians living in Ethiopia’s Tigray region are in need of life-saving aid and a famine may have already begun in the war-torn area, according to a memorandum by a British diplomat.”
“At least 132 civilians killed in Burkina Faso’s worst attack in years.
“The death toll from the worst militant attack in Burkina Faso in recent years has risen to 132, the government said on Saturday, after armed assailants laid siege overnight to a village in the jihadist-plagued northeast.”
“Temperature rising in south Yemen as rivalries fuel power shortage…
“In Yemen’s southern port city of Aden, Nawfal al-Mojamal struggles to keep Soviet-era machinery running at the main power plant as electricity outages fray the nerves of residents already fed up with poor services and political wrangling.”
https://www.euronews.com/2021/06/07/us-yemen-security-aden
“Jordan security forces injured during night ‘riots’ in Amman. Jordan’s security forces have faced “armed attacks” in the capital Amman, according to the authorities, after tribal supporters of a lawmaker who was banned from the kingdom’s parliament clashed with the police on Saturday.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/6/security-forces-injured-during-night-riots-in-jordans-amman
“Power Generator Owners In Lebanon Will Now Cut Electricity Supply For Up To 5 Hours A Day…
“Starting next week, electricity generator owners will begin rationing power by cutting the supply for around 4-5 hours a day, said the head of the Association of Power Generator Owners, Abdo Saadeh…”
https://www.the961.com/generator-electricity-cuts-ration/
“Algeria: Despite Repression, 120th Friday Protest Draws Large Crowds…
“Algeria’s national protest movement marked the 120th Friday with a massive outpouring of disaffected citizens in the city of Tizi Ouzou.”
“Scuffles broke out between protesters and police in the Tunisian capital on Saturday as demonstrators protested against an increase in prices of basic goods following the country’s recent negotiations with the IMF.
“Officers pushed back as protesters tried to break through police lines into a square in central Tunis near Parliament.”
“Kremlin may restrict more food exports to shield it from high prices…
“Maxim Reshetnikov, minister of economic development, told the Financial Times that Russia, one of the world’s biggest grain exporters, was considering how to best support its food exports while protecting domestic consumers from rising prices.”
https://www.ft.com/content/07378501-0ab9-4eef-ad13-eb72adff1838
“Digital currencies pose threat to economy, warns Bank of England.
“The rise of digital currencies could lead to a flood of withdrawals from high-street banks, risking financial stability and the wider economy, the Bank of England has warned.”
“Unregulated Cryptocurrency Bubble Could Send the Economy Into a Tailspin…
“The sudden “sprint” by regulators to examine cryptocurrencies might come too late, with the entire market on the brink of collapse. A sell-off earlier this month saw cryptocurrencies lose some $1 trillion in value in a week, from a peak global market cap of $2.5 trillion on May 11.”
https://island.lk/unregulated-cryptocurrency-bubble-could-send-the-economy-into-a-tailspin/
“NFT bubble pops: Market implodes with sales falling 90% in a month after craze for buying memes and viral videos suddenly fades..
“An NFT, short for non-fungible token, is a unique digital token encrypted with an artist’s signature and which verifies its ownership and authenticity.”
“A New Way To Hide Debt…Again.
““Non-Commenced leases” are the new version of operating leases, an accounting loophole that companies used to hide debt off-balance sheet prior to Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-02. This new accounting trick is another in the long history of companies exploiting loopholes in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to manage earnings and make it more difficult for investors to understand the true profitability of a firm.”
“Global debt rises $32 trillion in 2020 amid Covid pandemic: Moody’s.
“The Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath has pushed the global debt higher by $32 trillion in 2020 to $290.6 trillion led by government and non-financial corporate debt, and will continue to rise in 2021, said a latest release by Moody’s Investor Service (Moody’s).”
“COVID-19 recovery: some economies will take longer to rebound – this is bad for everyone.
“National economies are beginning to return to their pre-pandemic levels. But like the uneven impact of the pandemic itself, the pace of economic recovery is massively divergent across countries.”
“First Thing: economic toll of climate crisis ‘will be like two pandemics a year’ [an understatement]…
“Oxfam and the Swiss Re Institute have warned that the G7 countries will lose 8.5% of GDP a year, the equivalent of nearly $5tn, within 30 years if temperatures rise by 2.6C (4.7F), as they are predicted to.”
You can read the previous ‘Economic’ thread here. I’ll be back tomorrow with a ‘Climate’ thread.
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